Tutorial: Creating a session and browsing a log
This tutorial shows you how to create a session for a problem, manually specify a log file for the problem, and then browse the log file.
Before you begin
- If you have not already done so, follow the instructions in Configuring Transaction Analysis Workbench.
- Determine the data set name or the log stream name of a log file that you want to analyze. This log file can be any of the types that are supported by Transaction Analysis Workbench. This tutorial uses an SMF file.
About this task
Procedure
- Start the Transaction Analysis Workbench ISPF
dialog.
For example:
- On the ISPF primary option menu, select option 6 Command.
- Enter the following command. Replace
FUW.V1R3M0
with the high-level qualifiers of the Transaction Analysis Workbench libraries installed on your system.EX 'FUW.V1R3M0.SFUWEXEC(FUWOREXX)' 'FUW.V1R3M0'
The following steps register (create) a session.
- On the Transaction Analysis Workbench Primary
Option Menu, select
option 1
Sessions.
If the session repository does not yet exist, a Define Repository Data Set panel is displayed; press Enter to create the repository.
The Session Manager panel is displayed. This panel shows the list of existing sessions. To scroll the list horizontally and see more columns, press the Right function key (F11).
- Enter NEW on the command line.
The New Session window opens, prompting for an optional template. In this example, we will create a session without using a template.
- Press Enter without specifying a template.
The Session Details panel for the new session is displayed.
- Specify a description such as Getting started.
Leave the other details blank or accept their default values.
- Press the Exit function
key (F3) to
save the session.
The menu for the new session is displayed. The menu title contains the unique session key identifier (for example, Session 00000002).
The following steps select a log file for the new session.
- On the session menu, select option 3
Files.
The Locate and Manage Log Files panel is displayed.
- Manually specify your SMF file:
- Enter NEW on the command line.
The Specify File Details window opens.
- Specify the following file details:
Field Value Notes System Name The SYSID of the MVS™ system that created the SMF file The system name does not have to match an MVS system definition. That is, you do not need to have previously defined this MVS system to Transaction Analysis Workbench under primary menu option 3 Systems. If you do want to select from the list of systems defined to Transaction Analysis Workbench, tab to the System Name field, and then press the Prompt function key (F4).
System Type IMAGE IMAGE is an abbreviation of MVS image
.IMS Release Blank Required only for system type IMS. File Type SMF Log stream Unselected In this example, we are using a data set, not a log stream. Source MANUAL Indicates that the file that has been manually entered into the list of session files. Data Set Name The fully qualified data set name of the SMF file, enclosed in single quotes If you omit the enclosing single quotes and your TSO user profile specifies a prefix to be used as the first qualifier of all non-fully-qualified data set names, that prefix is added to the data set name. Tips:- A plus sign (+) next to a field indicates that you can press the Prompt function key (F4) to open a window that lists the values that you can select for that field.
- For a list of compatible combinations of system type and file type, see System and file types.
- Press the Exit function
key (F3).
The window closes.
The list at the bottom of the Locate and Manage Log Files panel shows the details of the file that you have just specified.
- Enter NEW on the command line.
- Press the the Exit function key (F3) to return to the session menu.
- On the session menu, select option 5
Investigate.
The Investigate panel is displayed. Use this panel to select which log files you want to browse, and whether you want to browse entire files starting at their first record or a time slice: a specific time period across one or more log files. Time slicing improves performance when browsing large log files.
The Time Slice heading shows the start and duration of the time slice, and whether time slicing is on or off.
The Coverage column indicates how much of the time slice each file covers.
- In the Duration field under the Time Slice heading, enter 00.10.00 (10 minutes).
- If the Time Slice heading shows (OFF), enter SLICE on the command line to switch time slicing on.
- Enter S on
the first line under the / heading.
Entering S in this top line shows a merged view of all log files for the session. In this example, we have only one file, so there is no difference between entering S on this line, or the line next to our single file.
Tip: To set the time slice to the start and duration of a particular log file, enter T next to the file.The log records are displayed in the log browser. Your screen should look similar to the following figure, although the details will depend on your particular log file.
- Browse the log.
- To scroll forward or backward through the records, press the Forward function key (F8) or the Backward function key (F7).
- To cycle through the four views on this log browser panel, press the Left function key (F10) or the Right function key (F11). The different views show or hide global fields, and show either the Time column or the LSN (log record sequence number) column.
- To view all the fields of a particular record, enter S next to the record.